The banana is much more slippery than I was anticipating and I have to brace my hands on the ground beside it to keep from cheating.
“Come on, baby! You can do this. Just grab it with your teeth!” Thankfully, he’s in front of me and no longer has to scream but his voice is loud enough that I can barely make it out with the water sloshing in my ears.
“Just grab it by the tip! The tip, Viv!”
The good news is, this is solid advice and I manage to grasp the banana with my teeth. The bad news is, I also snort in the water and inhale a gallon of it through my nostrils and choke my way out of the bucket.
I don’t let go of the banana though.
“Okay, you got this! Let’s go back, let’s go back!” Archer is clapping as I make my way back down the slippery plastic, my hair drenched and down in my face, a banana hanging from my mouth.
I’m sure I look great right now.
I manage to make it back with minimal falling and tap Archer’s hand for him to go. I spit out the banana and wipe my hair out of my face, trading places with Archer and rushing along the side to where he’s already at the second turn with no falling mishaps.
Figures that he’s amazing at this too.
He kneels in front of the bucket and I get down beside him, cheering him on.
“You’ve got this, Archie! Just wrap your lips around it and suck!” I’m sure when they thought this game up, no one really thought through the whole “bobbing for bananas” scenario and how dirty we could make it.
“Come on, use your lips! Use your teeth!” None of those options are working and when Archer comes up for air, I watch carefully as he dives back in, tongue out and mouth open.
The visual is… something else.
Then, he comes out, banana sideways in his mouth, lips and teeth grasping it. His hair is in his eyes and he has the audacity to give me a freaking wink as he stands and jogs back down the plastic.
I hear groups cheering as they complete the task, but my brain is slow to function and I’m stuck where I am, processing what Archer just did.
I rush back over to him and he reaches around me, pulling me into his arms in a big hug, my feet lift off the ground as he spins me around, but we lose our balance and Archer goes down, pulling me on top of him and I can’t stop the hysterical laughter from spilling out of my mouth.
Archer laughs with me and every time we start to calm down, we look at each other again and lose it. I roll off him and try to catch my breath, tears streaming down my face. “That was ridiculous.”
I look over at Archer and he looks at me, smile lines on his face, “It really was.” He agrees. I giggle a little more as the laughter starts to fade. I haven’t laughed that hard in so long.
“Nice work, crew!” Cyrus yells to us all, his mouth pulled into a smile. “Who’s ready for the next challenge?”
Chapter Eighteen
“Sometimes pumping up your partner means sitting on the sidelines cheering, willing to jump in only if they ask.” – Jane
ARCHER
I pant as I recover from the challenge. Having to get that banana in my mouth was harder than I thought, no pun intended. It was an interesting challenge and one that made me wonder what kind of mind Cyrus had.
I also think Viviana had way too much fun “encouraging me.”
That woman and her dirty thoughts.
“Alright, next up, we have canoe racing!” This grabs my attention and I rub my hands together.
“Oh yes, I love canoeing.” I grasp Viv’s hand and grin at her. “We’ll dominate.”
“That’s good because I have no idea how to canoe.” She gives me a smile back before we turn our attention back to Cyrus.
“We’ll be pairing you up, sending you out on the canoes where you will paddle out to the sandbar.” He points out to the horizon where there’s a small island with several flags lined up. “You’ll grab the flag that coordinates with the color of your canoe and row back!”
I jump up on the balls of my feet, far more excited for this challenge than I was for the banana racing.